The Top 3 Pests at Home

I know it has been a long while since I write. I have taken some time off to have more time to myself and kiddo. Today I am going to write about the TOP 3 PESTS AT HOME.

They irked me so much that I have dedicated this post just to write about them!

We have shifted into our new place in the north about 8 months ago. Yes, only a mere 8 months and I have a list of TO-KILL Pest on a daily basis. I wonder if we’re the only ones facing such situations but I doubt, because I can safely say that we should have quite the cleanest house in the whole neighbourhood judging from the way we have been cleaning up after ourselves. But we still find ourselves plague by these little creepy crawlies. So much so that I am about to call up the pest busters.

Normally, a household main headache comes from COCKROACHES and ANTS. Of course I would never want to have to encounter these too (touch wood!) but in our case,

1. BOOK LICE

If you don’t already know what they are. These are little microscopic creatures that are no bigger than a grain of salt. Most of the time, if you don’t notice, you can hardly see them around. You could easily mistake them for a speck of dust until they move. But the hubs have an eye for detail…and I mean it (Now i am influenced to don on my microscopic eyes whenever I go around cleaning up the house). Initially we thought these were house mites, but the sales support guy from a local pest-buster specialist said that it is most likely book lice from my description.

These little creatures are hiding right in the corner of our cabinets. I was pushed to write this post because about 2 hours ago, while fetching out the carton of milk powder from my lower cabinet, I found like 30 (I think that’s the minimum, I stopped counting because, well..they could just hide inside the crevices of the card-box or even, on the wood divider of the cabinet. To my horror, I called out to the pest-buster of the house (the hubs) and that was 10.15pm. We finished close to 10.50pm. Then, at 12.30am, the hubs decided that it was time to clean out all the kitchen drawers. ZZZZZ

I had forgotten that by ‘engaging’ the pest-buster of the house, I would have to throw away many of my food items because these little creatures could just hide everywhere and anywhere and it is highly possible that they could have infiltrated into the packaging even if they were snap tight with those food storage sealing clips. Yes, I threw away most of my food items this very night, even dry food.

WHAT DID WE DO?

Firstly, we vacuumed them up. Any kinds of mites these small would be much better off in our trusty handheld vacuum. This case, whatever ‘food (dust/dirt/whatever)’ get suck up together and they can live together happily ever after in Neverland. Then, we sprayed some bleach and clean up with a damped cloth. We used bleach to disinfect the area and to kill any other possible ones that’s still lurking around (You might want to use a warm damp cloth to clean up the bleach after because it gets a little sticky). The mites goes into the main dustbin outside of our home and the cabinet is left slightly ajar to air dry for the night.

WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?

It takes consistency and effort to minimize this group of pest but to completely kill them all like a John Wick? It is impossible. Even with the best pest-buster in town. Trust me when I say this, because I’ve called a local pest specialist to verify. What they have advised me is to engaged them to come by to fumigate the home. This cost about $600 for two treatments and a one week warranty. One week warranty? Now you know why I say they cannot be fully eradicated. Even if you could find the root of the problem at home, most of the times, these creatures came from the outside. North area, where we stayed in, used to be quite forested, with humidity and mould, these creatures thrive.

But you can greatly minimize them by having a good house-cleaning routine daily and weekly.

2. DUST MITES

How long have you been sleeping on your last mattress?

Are you still holding on to your ‘smelly’ ‘臭臭’ ‘soother’ of 10 years?

We have previously engaged professionals De Hygienique (not a sponsored post) to come by for a one time treatment and thereafter we have decided to upkeep the mattress by following up by ourselves on a more frequent basis. I came by this on their website which is good to know:

Dust mites are the infamous micro organisms that commonly cause asthma and other allergic symptoms like rhinitis, eczema worldwide. They thrive in the mattress, feeding on human’s skin flakes and leaving behind heaps of “poop” and skin particles. About 2 million dust mites can be found in a regular double sized mattress that has been used for 2 years.

So they did the cleaning and showed us what came out of their vacuum. I didn’t take a picture then because I didn’t think that these warranted a post at that time. But this is what came out of our mattress thereafter following our up-keeping a few months later:

WHAT DID WE DO?

Now, we vacuum all the mattress, pillows on an alternate weekly basis with our very own Carewin Sterilizer Vaccum (not a sponsored post) which is specially designed to bedding, sofa, mattress! We sun-dry our comforters every Sunday, or whenever I am home and the sun is out. Beddings are washed at higher temperatures to kill the mites. We have also been cleaning out clutters and very soon, I may just be living out of a suitcase!

3. Spiders

We have spotted a few of these here and there. The hubs insisted that I seldom spot these 8-legged creatures because he have been clearing them. By clearing them, we actually vacuum them up and thank goodness they cannot make their way out after. I have no intention of catching spiders and I’ve tried once to smack it and it dirtied our white wall. Yep, 21st century housewives.

WHAT DID WE DO?

The hardworking husband goes around with the handheld vacuum every(day) weekend to check out for spider eggs. Yes, you heard that right. On my end, I go around with the magic clean sweeper on weekdays to clean the corners of the walls. These little ones loved settling on the corners. Same thing, you cannot stop them from growing but you can prevent them from growing up, and co-living in your house watching your favorite channels with you.

Many would debate that they have never cleaned their house to such extent and they have got on well through the years. I would say that you are really lucky! I have mild sensitive nose and while I’m not allergic to dust in particular, the hubs is quite sensitive to it. And with a kiddo at home I think there’s no harm in keeping the environment clean! Moreover, it can be quite a good workout and it is definitely a good habit to keep your own place clean at all times.

The first and most important pest control is prevention. So what are your top 3 pests at home and how have you been trying to keep them away?

PS. Always emphasize the need to use organic pesticide products so it is not harmful to our little one!

Meowmee

Mom to a toddler (3 yo), a newborn and a new family of 4. Still feeling every bit like a kid on most other days. In this blog, I hope to be able to help new mums like myself based on some of the experiences I have. I'm also looking forward to making more friends around the world. I strive to be a supermum (one day) and thanks for reading our blog!

If you have any questions for me, please feel free to email me at m.tanyz@gmail.com :)